Bottom opening garbage can



Dec. 24, 1957 E. K. MILLS, JR 2,817,476

BOTTOM OPENING GARBAGE CAN Filed June 5, 1954 2 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR2 /6 74 Edward flufifilL Jr.

7 W" Ti ATTORNEY Dec. 24,, 1957 E. K. MILLS, JR

\ BOTTOM OPENING GARBAGE CAN 2 Shee ts Sheet 2 Filed June 3, 1954INVENTOR Edward xr. mm, (1%.

BY H ATTORNEY 2,817,476 Patented Dec. 24, 1957 fiice BOTTOM OPENINGGARBAGE CAN Edward K. Mills, Jr., Morristown, N. J.

Application June 3, 1954, Serial No. 434,103

2 Claims. (Cl. 232-431) This invention relates to garbage and trash cansand, more particularly, to a non-leak, bottom opening receptacle with aremotely operated latch mechanism.

The primary object of the invention is to provide an improved temporarycontainer of the type used in kitchens, laboratories, and the likelocale, which container will provide, among other things, a means forthe efiicient and sanitary transfer of its contents to the conventionallarger outdoor garbage or trash can, by discharge of its contentsdirectly into the larger outdoor can without opening the top of thesmaller indoor container, thus eliminating unsanitary physical contactwith, or unpleasant visual observation of, the contents and alsoeliminating the spillage, blowage, and breakage involved in the presentstandard practice of manually upending and dumping the contents from thesmaller container to the larger. A main purpose for the truncatedconeshaped of the subject container is to assure the unobstructeddischarge by gravity of its contents directly into the larger outdoorcan. If the sides of the container were vertical or of the usual design,there would be a disposition for the contents to jam against the bottomof the sides and thus prevent the automatic discharge thereof.

In contrast with prior bottom opening garbage cans, the objects are,first, to guard against leakage of the odoriferous juices whichaccumulate at the bottom of a mass of garbage. To this end it isintended to provide a pivotally operable can bottom having an upwardlyconcave surface in which the juices will collect rather than seepthrough the joint between the can bottom and sides. Another object inproviding the upwardly concave bottom closure is that, when it ispivoted open to dump the load, the accumulated juices and trivia willslide off, and the surface can be readily wiped clean.

Another major object is to provide a remotely operated latch for thepivoted bottom closure whereby the can may be held over a largercollection receptacle and dumped Without soiling ones hands. Byutilizing a cam and spring biased latch mechanism, provision is made forclosing the can bottom by resting the free edge of the down-hangingbottom on the ground and, moving the can body towards the ground so thatthe lid will be swung closed, and snapped shut.

Still another object is to provide a can having a truncated cone-shapedbody of great inherent stability, and easy to clean with a hose byopening the bottom and top, and by spraying the hose stream through fromthe bottom. By forming the side wall of the can as a downwardly enlargedtruncated cone, bits of liquid and sticky semi-liquids which ordinarilystick to a vertically sided can will drain and fall off downwardlytowards the upwardly concave catch basin formed in the can bottom.

These and other objects will be apparent from the followingspecification and drawings, in which:

Figs. 1 and 2 are front and side elevations, respectively, of theimproved garbage can;

Fig. 3 is a top plan view of the can shown in Figs. 1 and 2;

Fig. 4 is a cross-section taken vertically along the line 4-4 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 5 is an enlarged fragmentary view showing in front elevation thedetails of the upper portion of the remote latch operating linkage;

Fig. 6 is a cross-section along the line 6-6 of Fig. 5; Fig. 7 is anenlarged fragmentary view showing, in front elevation, the details ofthe remotely operated latch for the bottom closure; and,

Fig. 8 is a cross-section along the line 8--8 of Fig. 7.

Referring now to the drawings in which like reference numerals denotesimilar elements the garbage can indicated generally at 2 is preferablyformed of stiff sheet material, such as sheet metal or suitable plastic,and provided with a side wall 4 of truncate cone-shaped with the largeend down. The garbage can is manually portable by two handles mounted onthe side walls, one of which handles is shown at 5. A lid 6 pivoted tothe side wall as indicated at 8 and having a handle 10 provides accessto the interior of the can from the top.

Garbage can 2 has a bottom closure 12 pivoted to side wall 4 by hinge 14so that when the can is manually engaged at the upper region thereof andsuspended in the air, bottom closure 12 may be pivoted open so as tohang substantially straight down from the position shown in Figs. 1, 2and 4. Bottom closure 12 has, on the side opposite pivot 14, anoutwardly extending headed pin 16 engaged by latch 18 for keeping thebottom closed. Latch 18 is formed as a bell crank pivoted at 20intermediate its ends, with a lever arm 22 pivoted, at 23 to the lowerend of a push rod 24. The upper end of push rod 24 has a thumbpiece 26,and below the thumbpiece the push rod slides through apertured spaceguides 28 and 30, respectively, at 29 and 31 to the can side wall 4. Astop collar 32 aflixed on push rod 24 forms an abutment for one end of acompression spring 34, the other end of the spring being engaged againstguide 28 so that push rod 24 is normally biased to an upper position,with latch 18 normally positioned as shown in Fig. 1 and in full linesin Fig. 7. As detailed in Fig. 7, latch 18 has a cam nose 36 on itslower end and a socket 38 in ledge 40 for nesting pin 16. As shown inFig. 4 the upper and normally inner side of bottom closure 12 isupwardly concave as indicated generally at 42.

In operation, garbage can 2 rests on the floor with the bottom 12closed. Debris deposited in the can after opening lid 6 falls to theenlarged bottom portion defined by truncate cone-shaped side wall 4 andbecomes ballast. Because of the downwardly enlarged shape, the can isinherently stable and the downwardly and outwardly flaring innersurfaces of side wall 4 deter lodgment of liquid or sticky substancesand enhance their downward flow ofi the inner surfaces of the side wall.The downwardly draining liquids gravitate to the catch basin formed byupwardly concave bottom surface 42 which constitutes an ample reservoirfor the liquids so that they will not seep out between the flange 413 ofbottom 12 and the overlapped bottom portion of side wall 4. It should benoted that one handle 5 is near thumbpiece 26 of the remotely operatingpush rod 24 for latch 18 so that, when it is desired to empty can 2, itis lifted by grasping handle 5 or handles 5, 5 can is held over a largercollecting receptacle, and the thumb is extended to engage thumbpiece 26which, when pushed downwardly, operates through push rod 24 to unlocklatch 18 about pivot 20 to the dotted line position shown in Fig. 7.Thereupon bottom closure 12 swings downwardly about pivot 14 and thecontents of can 2 are discharged. The can may be easily washed byleaving the bottom open and by resting it on its side on the ground orfloor so that it can be flushed out through the open bottom. In thisposition, the interior surfaces of the can are all disposed towards thehose stream. However, the can need not be washed as often asconventional ones since very little if any matter sticks to the sidesand the upwardly concave bottom can be easily wiped ofi. Bottom 12 isclosed by resting the downwardly hanging edge against the ground orfloor, and pressing the remainder of the can downward and over bottom 12so as to engage pin 16 against cam nose 36 so that latch 18 snaps overpin 16 to re-engage socket 38 beneath the pin.

The invention is not limited to the details disclosed and describedhereinbefore, but is intended to cover all substitutions, modificationsand equivalents within the scope of the following claims.

I claim:

1. A portable bottom opening collection receptacle, comprising adownwardly enlarged body of truncated cone shape having a side wall ofclosed configuration and an open bottom and top, a top closure pivotedto said side wall atthe top thereof, a bottom closure, a pivot mountingsaid bottom closure on one side of said side wall at the bottom thereof,a hook latch pivotally mounted on the exterior of said side walladjacent the bottom thereof and on the side opposite said pivot, meanson said bottom closure engageable by said hook latch for retaining saidbottom closure closed, a pair of handles exteriorly mounted on oppositesides of said side wall adjacent the top thereof and respectivelydisposed substantially directly above the pivot and hook latch, a latchoperator comprising a vertical push rod mounted on the exterior of saidside wall and connected at its lower end to said hook latch, said pushrod being slidable downwardly and upwardly for pivoting said hook latchbetween engaging and disengaging positions with respect to the means onthe bottom, the upper end of said push rod terminating adjacent thehandle which lies substantially directly abovethe hook latch, a springengaged between said side wall and push rod for biasing the latterupwardly, and a thumb piece on the upper end of the push rod.

2. The combination claimed in claim 1, the bottom closure being upwardlyconcave and having an upwardly extending peripheral flange overlappingthe bottom of said side wall in the closed position of the bottomclosure.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 47,646Knox May 9, 1865 983,267 Schellenberg July 14, 1908 947,785 Bjork Feb.1, 1910 1,013,775 Hoffman Ian. 2, 1912 1,671,832 Lyon May 29, 19282,200,531 Bishelany May 14, 1940 2,417,178 Ritter Mar. 11, 19472,495,505 Bella Jan. 24, 1950

